Accidental Tourist - 2014 Scott Kelby Worldwide Photowalk - Tiong Bahru walk

This is the 2nd photowalk that I managed to do over the past few months to continue shooting in my little island - the previous walk is captured in my earlier blog entry and now the "Scott Kelby Worldwide photowalk" held on October 11, 2014. 

This photowalk has a constant on my photo calendar having gone for my first worldwalk back in 2011: 

• 2011: Oct 2 - walk around Marina Bay area of Singapore - walk leader was Bernard Goh - https://www.flickr.com/photos/magtyfoto/sets/72157627682277461/with/6206379519/

• 2013: Oct 5 -  Civil District Trail of Singapore - walk leader was Wilson Wong - https://www.flickr.com/photos/magtyfoto/sets/72157627682277461/with/6206451967/

For Scott Kelby's walk, (Wilson Wong as walk leader) it was a nice little stroll around familiar Tiong Bahru neighborhood where I did several walks earlier i.e. 

• OH! Open House event in 2012: http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.sg/2012/02/oh-open-house-at-tiong-bahru-singapore.html
• Air Raid Walk again in 2012: http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.sg/2012/02/tiong-bahru-air-raid-walk-on-4-feb-2012.html 
• Escape to Nostalgia in 2011: http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.sg/2011/05/escape-to-nostalgic-side-of.html

Interestingly, there is a link back to my earlier walk that I did which I only realised now...there is a "Kim Cheng Street" (formerly known as "Kim Ching Street" in this Tiong Bahru neighbourhood which is named after Tan Kim Ching, who was a prominent member of the Hokkien clan back in 1800s. More info available here: http://tiongbahruestate.blogspot.sg/2007/08/tan-kim-ching-1829-1892.html. Coincidentally, he was the 1st leader appointed for the Hokkien Thian Hock Keng Temple that I visited for the earlier walk (http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.sg/2014/10/accidental-tourist-500px-photo-walk.html). 

Here are some captures of the neighborhood (and its resident cat): 

 More photos can be seen from my Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/magtyfoto/15317716527/

Till the next time, onto the world and beyond!


 

Accidental Tourist - 500px photo walk around SIngapore Chinatown

One of the ways I try to continue shooting in my own country is to take photo walks. For the past few months, I managed to bag 2 international walks by joining the 500px photo walk in September and the Scott Kelby Global photo walk in October (another post). 

The 500px photowalk was a first for me - Led by Wilson of Singapore Photography Interest Network aka SPIN, the participants took a romp around Singapore Chinatown area. 

Starting at the new Telok Ayer MRT (Downtown Line) (named after the Hokkien (dialect) that used to populate this area) a pit stop at Thian Hock Keng Temple (an iconic temple in this area -as it is the oldest Hokkien temple in Singapore back when I did another walk in 2012 - http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.sg/2012/10/accidental-tourist-october-2012-walking.html) before heading out to the main Chinatown area via Amoy Street market. 

Some trivia about this location: (extracted from http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_656_2004-12-31.html) 
Malay name: In Malay, telok means "bay" and ayer means "water".
Chinese name: The Hokkien name for Telok Ayer Street was Gwan Sun Koi, where koi meant "street" and Gwan Sun referred to the name of a shop along Telok Ayer Street. Telok Ayer Bay was also known as nan wan or "southern bay" by the Chinese.
 
It was the usual humid hot day for sunny Singapore but the walk was made better with good spirits and good company. Once into Chinatown, a stop over at the beautiful Buddha Tooth Relic Temple (one of those places I have taken frequent visits - http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.sg/2013/06/accidental-tourist-annual-vesak-day.html and http://accidentalsingaporetourist.blogspot.sg/2010/06/accidental-tourist-vesak-day.html) 

Teatime stop at the new Chinatown Food Street area before heading upwards to catch the Mid Autumn opening ceremony and traffic jams. The night ended on a high with light trails and evening light. 

Thian Hock Keng Temple

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple

Buddha Tooth Relic Temple - Mid Autumn Festival Celebrations

Mid Autumn Festival Celebrations

More photos available on my Flickr account - https://flickr.com/photos/56563125@N00/sets/72157647315190372

Till the next time, onto the world and beyond! 

Accidental Tourist - Archiwalks with Fabian of ArchiWalks

Spent a pleasant Thursday evening walking around Bugis / Kampong Glam area with Liza. The walk is part of the ArchiFest 2014 and conducted by Fabian of Archiwalks.com - we started with the quirky Park view Square (built in 2002 aka Gotham City and inspired by 1920-30s Art deco architecture) before heading to the various art done around the edge of Kampong Glam by Earnest Zacharevic https://m.facebook.com/Ernestzachas, hopped, skipped and jumped to a beautifully tiled Malabar Muslim mosque (Masjid_Malabar) and a conservation boutique hotel called The Sultan. We ended the walk with a sumptuous archiwalk inspired cuisine cooked by Mark Wee at A for Arbite. 

From the massively impressive mural of the girl with lion cub (it spans from the front to the end of the wall of the length of the shophouse all done using a photo not projection!) to the trolley kids (similar to the bicycle kids in Georgetown), the peeping kid and kids having a wild time somersaulting out of boxes. These street art murals are done on the side walls of shophouses in Jalan Pisang and Jalan Klapa, facing Victoria Street, which houses events and marketing company amcasia!

We ended with a short but insightful tour around The Sultan, boutique hotel nestled along Jalan Sultan (2012 URA Architecture Heritage Award winner) where we had the chance to go in to take a look at the various detailing and careful work done to preserve the beauty of the traditional shophouses (http://thesultan.com.sg). 

Dinner at A for Arbite was inspired by the walk itself and created by Mark. He took the time to come out after each dish is served to explain his inspiration for the dish. A Truly wonderful experience to end a delightful walk! 

My walk was "Eat Your Architecture" - http://eatyourarchitecture.peatix.com/. 

There are more walks planned end Sep till early Oct 2014 so hurry along and get your tickets from them at http://www.archiwalks.com. 

Till the next time, onto the world and beyond! 

Accidental Tourist - Yesteryear Theme Park - Haw Par Villa

With the MRT (equivalent of Subway or Tube depending on where you come from) open, Haw Par Villa, originally Tiger Balm Gardens, can be easily accessible by hopping onto a train - getting on the right train line (Circle Line) and stopping at Haw Par Villa Station (no. CC25) which is right in front of the entrance to the theme park. It's one of the few places you can visit in Singapore without having to pay an entrance fee. 

It was a family run theme park back in the day before being taken charge by the (Singapore Tourism Board). Thankfully, they didn't do much to change the place as it remained more or less the same place that I remember when I last visited during my school days. 

Some quick info about this place - Haw Par is based on the names of the 2 brothers of original Aw family who ran this place. The original intent is to teach traditional Chinese values with its most famous attraction (then and remaining) the Ten Courts of Hell with many urban legends or ghost stories surrounding this attraction. I found a webpage (http://wheresidewalksend.com/court-of-hell/) that explained all 10 courts - which to this day, I still find some of the images quite disturbing. Ah well....enjoy some photos before switching away.... 

Till the next time, onto the world and beyond!